I bought this little Buddha tealight holder at Target two years ago, the January that Mr. Yarnpirate moved out of our home. It was on clearance, I think, $4. I’d loved it for weeks, but couldn’t afford it at full price (I think it was like, $16? But I was mid separation and broke and broken hearted.)

But then, there it was. On sale. The last one. Of course I grabbed it. And I took it home and I made a little space around it in our cluttered, sad little apartment, where we were all bleeding, heartsore and sad. Where we kept staring at the great big hole where Mr. Yarnpirate’s stuff used to live. I cleared a little space for it and I kept that little space serene and quiet. I’d light a candle and it would make me feel better. Gradually the quiet space around the Clearance Buddha grew. The quiet places in my heart got a little bigger and the loud angry sad places began to calm down. We all waited. In a holding pattern. Life went on but it was hard and grey and there were so many challenges. And through it all, Clearance Buddha’s candle always burned, clear and bright and hopeful.

Then we found our new house, our new community, our new path. It came to us when the time was right, when we decided to throw off fear and limits and ties and just take a leap into the unknown. First house we looked at. First landlord we talked to. We walked in and it was ours. And from that moment, every single thing has been better. Easier. Not so dark that I need to light a candle against it anymore.

Clearance Buddha came with us and he brought the Eightfold Rabbits. They represent those little ideas for stories or projects or paintings or shawls, the ones that proliferate and breed in the dark corners of the imagination so that you come out in the morning and find hundreds of them hopping about, too many to possibly write or knit or paint or create at once.

They live on the mantle, the center of my quiet and peaceful home, the home that doesn’t have roaches or mold or despair in it mucking up the walls. The home that has my kids, my dog and my cats, where we sit at table and eat like a family, where we tend our garden and water the roses.

5 Responses to Clearance Buddha and the Eightfold Rabbits

What a positive story- and a lovely photo. I was thinking as I looked at the photo how it needed to be your header for your blog and when I came here to tell you that.. there it was! All of the Buddha statues in my home were all bought on super-clearance and ended up being EXACTLY how much extra money I had to spend at the time.

Welcome to your new home, both blogwise and housewise. I’ve been enjoying your blog for quite some time now. Thank you for inspiring me, and for sharing your wisdom of parenting your daughters as well.

I have the same Clearance Buddha! I love him, he is just the right size to be meaningful without ostentation. I love the idea of the eightfold rabbits. I’ll keep them in my head and see what they come up with…

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